Before the Storm
by Hollie47
Summary: Jenny and Emma have an argument which sets a chain of events into motion
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal windy autumn's day in Cologne. The red orange tree leaves were falling onto the cracked pavement from the tall and heavy tree's coating the streets in their colour as the town's people walked through them, the children picking them up and throwing them at each other. The wind was picking them up, soaring them through the air and all over people's driveways. The sky was a fading blue colour, being taken over by the grey mist of clouds which were getting darker and darker in colour as it looked as though they were going shower everyone in cold rain.

Inside of the Bergmann house Emma and Jenny were seated at the dining room table. A mass of books about Ancient History spread open before them like a sea of knowledge just waiting to be absorbed up by young minds. As Emma picked up an old and heavy library book, she began to read aloud to Jenny.

"Hatshepsut was considered one of the greatest rulers, male or female of her time. Born during Egypt's 18th dynasty, she was able to rise from princess to queen to pharaoh. Her rise to the throne, though against ideals of the time, might have inspired others, such as Cleopatra. During this time she was able to expand trade, watch the Egyptian economy grow and improve as well as build and restore the temples of Egypt. Hatshepsut did this by claiming right of male, being in the image of the Sphinx. She strapped a golden beard to her chin and often dressed in male clothing."

"So let me get this right. Hatshepsut was a female, but dressed as a guy, so she could play king?" Jenny asked dropping her head into her hands. They had been studying for 3 hours and Jenny was getting frustrated at how she was finding it difficult to learn this stuff.

"Jenny, she dressed as a guy because she was the pharaoh. She was not playing king sweetie" Emma said patiently as she rubbed Jenny's back softly.

Jenny got up from the table, taking her empty glass with her over to the sink to refill it with water. As Jenny was filling up her glass, she could hear Emma softly reading to herself about the pharaoh's of Egypt. They had a test in a week on this subject and Jenny was feeling out of place with it. She was frustrated and she couldn't decipher all the information going into her brain which was starting to give her a headache. She didn't know why she was having so much trouble with the subject and it was making her slightly angry at herself.

The brunette, pulled from her thoughts as her phone started to ring and vibrate from the coffee table. Jenny quickly turned the tap off and put her glass of water down as she ran over to her phone to answer it. She glanced at the caller idea and saw that Sophie was calling her. She hit the answer button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello Sophie"

"Jenny, I learnt a new language, want to hear" Sophie yells into the phone, making Jenny move it away from her ear as she starts to make hissing sounds.

"Sophie, why are you hissing are you hurt?" Jenny asked, not following.

"No silly, I'm speaking Parseltongue, I watched Harry Potter and now I'm a pro speaker of the snake language" Sophie said as she laughed into the speaker.

"Sophie, where are you, I can come get you. I know you're high" Jenny said wanting to help her.

"I'm in a magical place right now and everything is green" she said as she hung up the phone.

Jenny turned to Emma, she could tell by the look on Emma's face she was not going to approve of her helping Sophie, but she tried to tell her anyway.

"Emma, I need to go find Sophie" Jenny said cautiously studying Emma's reaction to her words.

"Jenny, you know how I feel about this. I'm going to say it only once. I think you should leave Sophie alone. It's not your job to watch her constantly and with your history, I think it's best you do leave her alone" Emma said as calmly as she could even though she just wanted to yell at Jenny as she could feel her anger boiling over at the subject of Sophie.

"What Emma, do you think that trying to help Sophie is going to get me to use again" Jenny yelled as all her emotions of the day started to spill over, even though none of them should have been directed at Emma. Jenny knew this but she just couldn't stop speaking as her emotions got the better of her. "Do you think that maybe I want to do something good for her and help her get clean from using drugs. I would never touch them again, and here you are my girlfriend thinking that I may get pulled back into the type of lifestyle"

"I'm not going to speak to you when you are being like this Jenny" Emma said calmly as she collected her books and left the Bergmann's house to go home, to let Jenny try and calm herself down.

As Jenny watched Emma walk away, she turned around and grabbed a heavy book off of the table and threw it across the room in pure anger while screaming at it. She went over to her CD player and turned the volume of it up. Jenny knew that dancing always helped her to calm down and so she danced angry ballet around the living room limberly as she tried to release all her pent up emotions through her favourite type of art. It had been at least half an hour since Emma left and Jenny still felt the raging emotion of anger inside of her. The brunette decided to get changed into her running clothes and see if running would help her emotions to dissipate.

As Jenny left the house, she jogged down the street, enjoying the air on her face. She turned a corner, jogging down another long road. Jenny, out of the corner of her eye saw an alley way leading to a back street which she hadn't noticed before and thought that some new scenery may help to improve her mood. She ran along the rough and uneven pavement, small pieces of broken gravel hitting her ankles as she ran. As she came to the clearing on the other side of it, she noticed it was a forest type of area. She started to run towards it, she could still feel the raging anger inside of her and she didn't care where she ran as long as she could just run.

She ran, fast, as she dodged the tall, thick, looming tree's and jumped over the dark fallen mouldy tree logs, the sun was setting in the distance making a pinkish hue in the sky as the dark grey clouds started to fill the sky. Jenny ran faster and faster, she could feel the anger and rage inside of her belly starting to dissipate. The ground beneath her feet was getting harder and harder to run on as the trees became more closely compacted together, she slowed her run to a jog. Her foot got caught on a root, she fell forward landing on the ground with a thud, winded by the impact. She laid there on the ground for a bit catching her breath. She looked at her surroundings, taking in the night sky looming in the distance.

She pulled herself up, propping her back against the trunk of a fallen down tree, she threw her head back, hoping to clear her mind. She could feel the anger drain out of her. She was spent, emotionally and physically exhausted. She felt her pocket for her phone and couldn't find it anywhere, she thought for a minute about where she could have possibly left it. The tree stump she was leaning on started to move, falling backwards taking Jenny along with it.

The tree stump was half sitting over a small rocky cliff Jenny noticed as she impacted the ground below, landing on her right arm. Pain shot from her wrist up to her elbow and down to the tips of her fingers. She hissed in pain as she dragged herself up nursing her injured arm close to chest. She looked up from where she fell from. It was only about a meters drop she could see over the ledge but she had no way of getting back up there. She felt a water drop hit her cheek, it had started to rain. Jenny looked around her surroundings frantically looking for someplace to take shelter so the storm brewing in the sky could pass without her getting too wet.

She walked along the side of the ledge and into some dense forest area the rain was getting heavier as she speed up her walking pace. In the distance she could see a tree with a hollow trunk. She walked towards it, looking to see if it would have enough protection against the storm. It did, she went inside of it and sat down in the corner pulling her knees up to her body and resting her arm. She tried to move her fingers and she could slightly. She had broken her wrist, she was sure of it. She had sprained wrists and pinched nerves before but they were nowhere near as painful as the pain she was feeling in her wrist. It was now pouring down rain, the sky was rumbling and Jenny was scared. She was outside alone in a place she hadn't explored before, it was night time, there was a storm, she was injured and most of all she wanted to be with Emma. She placed her head on her knees, she thought back on the events of the day, she felt so many thing today she could feel her headache from before returning as the tears fell from her eyes down her ruby cheeks until she was taken over by the familiar darkness of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The bright radiant sun started to rise signalling a new morning, the rays light up the forest as the birds started to sing and the squirrels began looking for food. Jenny started to stir as she lifted her head up from her knees and looked out, blurry eyed, into the forest. She moved her right arm and pain shot through it. She closed her eyes tightly till the pain subsided, remembering the events of what had occurred yesterday. Jenny sighed. She still felt exhausted; she was hungry and thirsty and didn't know if she had enough energy to get up, but she knew she would have to eventually.

The forest looked really muddy, dirty, wet, swamp like and beautiful all at the same time too Jenny. The rain which had poured down in bucket loads throughout the night gave it the texture Jenny had noticed. The smell and taste of the fresh morning air filled her lungs as Jenny got to her feet and stepped out of her mini tree shelter. She surveyed the area around her, stepping softly so she wouldn't disturb the muddy ground as thoughts wondered through her mind.

'_I wonder how long I was out running for, Emma came over at about 1pm to study we were at it for at least a little over three hours as Sophie rang me at about 4:15pm. Shit, Sophie. I totally forgot to go help her. I need to ring Emma and apologise for being a cow too. Jenny, get back on topic. Wow I'm chastising myself, okay so Emma left at around 4:20, I danced some ballet for half an hour or so and got changed for a run which means I left home at around 5pm. When I stopped running and fell and broke my arm, which is absolutely killing me right now it was dark maybe between 7-8pm. I really shouldn't have skipped lunch yesterday, so hungry, thirsty and tired but I need to get back home. I notice nothing around here though, will I be able to make it home, I wonder if there is anything dangerous here. Okay Jenny not a good trail of thought you're starting to scare yourself. I already feel scared and alone but I know I need to start moving and get out of here.'_

A look of determination spread over Jenny's beautiful face, she turned to the way she entered into the forest and as she took slow cautious steps she started to make her way back. The muddy ground was slippery as she walked. She walked along the tree line holding onto the trees with her left hand making sure she wouldn't fall. Her right arm she held close to her chest, it was hurting her a lot, but she knew she had to push the pain out of her mind and continue on. Twigs snapped under her feet, leaves got stuck to the bare skin around her ankles, her shoes caught on grass knots, and she stepped on small rocks causing her to roll forward a bit almost losing her balance as she breathed in and held her breath in suspense at the outcome. She was still standing.

The sun had risen high in the sky, the rays light up the whole forest in a rich glow which reflected off of the water droplets sitting on the tips of the leaves making almost a serene scene, Jenny leaned against a tree, resting her forehead against the coolness of the bark, cradling her arm close to her, holding it tightly as the pain was getting even worse. Her throat was sore; it felt like sandpaper every time she breathed in. Her stomach was grumbling, knotting up as she walked from the lack of food and water she desperately needed. She lifted her head up and looked at the forest ahead of her. It was trees, trees, fallen logs, rocks and more trees.

Jenny took a deep breath in, as she wiped the sweat from her head with her left arm and moved the hair which was stuck to her forehead behind her ears and carried on trying to make her way out of the forest. The look of determination on her face had slowly starting to fade but was not completely lost. She walked over the muddy terrain, her shoes occasionally getting stuck in the mud; she stepped over the logs, walked around the big rocks and the wet muddy patches of ground filled with water which had leaves and mould floating on the tops of them. The rate at which Jenny was walking had slowed down considerably from when she first started. She had been walking for almost four hours. The mud has been the most noticeable thing which had slowed her down. She could feel her energy draining out of her body with every step she took. Her head was starting to hurt and her arm had started to go slightly numb as pins and needles shot through it.

The further she walked the more the ground started to even out, she could hear the soft sounds of leaves rustling, birds singing and of water running in the distance. Jenny thought she was going crazy, her face was bright red and dripping with sweat and she grimaced in pain as she moved her arm. She picked up her pace with renewed vigour as she followed the sounds of the birds and water. She pushed branches out of her way carefully and looked up. She had found the cause of the rustling leaves and birds singing. A family of small Hoopoe's were building a nest high in the top of the tree. Their beautifully coloured yellow heads and body with black and white stripped wings made Jenny just stop in her tracks and admire them. Their wings reminded her of Emma's striped/plaid t-shirt collection which brought a graceful smile to her lips.

The sound of water running brought Jenny back into the moment, she continued forward in search of the water she could hear. Back when she was living in New York she was always told that if she ever got lost to always follow the river or stream if she came across one. They would always lead back to civilisation sooner or later and that is what Jenny planned on doing. She was trying not to get her hopes up but the prospect of their being a stream or river was just too exciting for her. The trees around her had started to thin out, she could easily walk in between them with room on either side of her. The more steps she took forward the more her hopes lifted as the ground was becoming clearer and clearer. The grass, weeds and small flowers had started to disappear and that is when she saw it. About fifteen meters ahead of her there was a small bank no bigger than one meter wide on each side with a small river flowing through the middle of it splashing softly against some small mouldy rocks which lined the side of it.

The ground around the small river was almost dry as the sun shone brightly down around it. Jenny walked over to the river and sat down on the ground resting against the side of a warm flat rock. She closed her eyes and took even breaths in and out. She was physically exhausted; she had a headache, broken arm and was so hungry and thirsty. Her whole body ached in agony. Her legs where now feeling like dead weights. She had been walking now for half a day. Her body was screaming at her to stop and rest and it had finally won. She sat propped against the rock for forty five minutes before she got up again and followed the river. Jenny looked at the river water closely, she was tempted to drink it but it was all dirty and had things floating in it. Jenny didn't want to risk getting sick from it, she was already spent and getting sick from dirty water was something she didn't think she would be able to handle as well.

Jenny followed the stream as she was determined to get back home by night fall which would probably set in, in about four to five hours. She walked over hills and through the long wet grass which was sticking to her legs. She followed it up and through trees, around boulders and walked over ants nests. She had been following the river for what felt like forever. The river had started to get wider and wider the longer she followed it. The distant sounds of trucks invaded her hearing as it renewed her hope of getting out of the forest. Jenny started to pick up her pace, her leg muscles were burning and protesting but she pushed as hard as she could. Her arm was still aching, shooting pain out everywhere but not as strongly as before. The river started to flow downhill but the trees in front of her were thinning out into a clearing. She had to make a decision on what way to go. The sounds of the trucks were coming from the distance beyond the trees in front of her whereas the river flowed down into a denser and thicker part of the forest. She chose to follow the sounds of the trucks in the distance.

She walked almost dragging herself along through the trees and into the clearing. In front of her was just a vast expanse of grass. She could see some small wooden pillars along the edges of the grass with massive trees encircling the clearing. She walked forward. Jenny was starting to see double but she kept on moving, as she got closer to the gap in the trees where the pillars where she could see the faint glow of signs from the town. There was also a small alleyway. Jenny followed it, her left arm now supporting her right one as the pain was getting unbearable. Her head started to spin as she leaned up again the wooden fence boarding the alleyway. She had finally made it out of the forest and not a moment too soon she had thought to herself. As Jenny moved forward once again, she crossed an old back street into another grassy back alley. Her head was spinning and her vision had blurred worse than before. She tried to prop herself up against the wall of the closed down building bordering her but it was too late, her vision blacked out and she felt herself crumble onto the grass as her body gave in to the feeling of exhaustion.


	3. Chapter 3

The remaining droplets of rain from the storm the night before were slowly running down the outside of Emma's closed bedroom window, leaving a small train of water along it as the blonde sat with her head buried in books, studying for an exam she had coming up soon. As she lay on her stomach across her queen sized bed she held out one of many books in front of her, mumbling softly as she read the text about Egyptian pharaohs paying close attention to Hatshepsut.

The blonde reached for her notepad as she sat up and crossed her legs. She took down some notes vital study notes on her light blue pad. Emma had always been one to study as she set the bar for herself very high in the way of school grades. She loved to learn and she enjoyed the experience of absorbing new information greatly. As Emma read back over her notes she stared at the colour of her notepad. Ocean blue, just like Jenny's eyes - it was the only reason she'd bought it.

As her thoughts drifted to Jenny she hastily got up from her bed, her ankles cracking in protest as she stood up, made her way over to her furnished dressing table and picked up her phone. She went through her contacts, found Jenny's name and hit the call button. As she placed the phone to her ear she paced the length of her bedroom waiting for Jenny to answer.

But Jenny didn't pick up. Jenny always answered her phone on the third or fourth ring and Emma had let the phone go until the seventh chime. Emma started to worry. As she hung up she paced her room faster and thought of reasons why Jenny wasn't answering her phone. _Maybe the battery in her phone died, Jenny always forgets to charge it but then why didn't it go straight to voice mail? A voice message! I'll leave her one. Maybe she's in the bathroom or having a shower, yeah that's why. I'll ring her again._

As Emma rang Jenny's phone again she counted the rings. _Four rings, five rings, six rings damn it Jenny answer your phone, eight rings...Please leave a message after the beep. _"Jenny, hi, it's Emma. I'm sorry about yesterday can you please ring me back? I love you". Emma paced back and forth while she rang Jenny another six times and left another three voice messages, all carbon copies of each other.

Emma was feeling frustrated. Jenny wasn't answering her phone and it made her feel somewhat angry with herself over yesterday. She threw her phone on her bed releasing some of her pent up frustration and walked over to her stereo player, turning it on as she went through her pile of CD's. Music and singing was one of the only things that helped Emma release her frustrations and right now that was exactly what she needed.

As she searched through her CD pile she stopped and looked at her 'The Bangles' CD before deciding to stick it on random. Emma started to sing along with the music putting depth and feeling into the lyrics as she was singing. The song playing always reminded her of Jenny and how she felt before and after Jenny had come into her life. She was hitting every note perfectly, executing a perfect performance of the song. If only she had an audience to watch her, but she was much too humble for that. Her favourite part of the song came on and she channelled all the pent up emotion she was feeling into it.

_Say my name__  
>Sun shines through the rain<em>_  
>A whole life so lonely<em>_  
>And then you come and ease the pain<em>_  
>I don't want to lose this feeling<em>

_Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling__  
>Do you feel my heart beating<em>_  
>Do you understand<em>_  
>Do you feel the same<em>_  
>Am I only dreaming<em>_  
>But is this burning an eternal flame<em>

The blonde sung another three songs but she still didn't feel at ease. She was still frustrated and she didn't like it at all. Emma turned the music down low so it was background noise, walked over to her dressing table and sat down in front of it. She pulled open her bottom draw and riffled through it. After a few minutes of moving the contents of her draw around she pulled out an old dust covered, leather bound diary. She dusted it off, got up and made her way over to her desk.

As she sat down, Emma carefully opened her diary and turned to the first blank page. Writing always helped her to sort out her feelings. She could stare right at them and determine what would be the next step she should take. She smoothed down the page softly as she picked up her pen and started to write.

_Dear Diary, _

_Hi, it's Emma again. I know I haven't written in you for a while but my life has been full of such wonder as of late. I met a girl. At first I thought she was just trying to use me, but after a while my walls crumbled and my heart suddenly belonged to her. Her name is Jenny. She's amazing, gorgeous, generous, lovely, sweet, courageous, beautiful and endearing. I love her so much and she has made me a better person. I'm now more confident and have more self esteem since my girl came into my life. _

_Yesterday, while everything was going so well, and we were studying for this exam we both have coming up, Sophie called Jenny. Sophie has been hanging around this total douche bag, Ronnie, which is a totally different story and one which I will tell you later. But, to cut a long story short, he's giving Sophie drugs and Jenny is trying to counsel her. Sophie and I used to be friends, well we still might be but now when she keeps on calling Jenny when she does drugs I get so jealous. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. Sophie is always asking Jenny for help or the sort and when she leaves me for Sophie it hurts._

_Jenny and I ended up getting into an argument after she hung up about her wanting to go off and help Sophie. I stayed calm throughout the argument and I told Jenny that I didn't like the idea of her helping Sophie but Jenny just blew up at me. I don't like it when we fight. I don't like when she yells at me or is angry at me. I know it's irrational but I instantly think I'm losing. I told her I wasn't going to talk to her while she was acting like that and I left. I now don't think it was such a good idea to leave as Jenny hasn't answered my phone calls all day._

_After the argument with Jenny I felt very angry and frustrated to the point I could barely sleep last night. I love Jenny, but it's times like this with this whole Sophie thing - she just makes me so mad at times. The reason for me not liking the idea of Jenny helping Sophie is that when Jenny used to live in London she did drugs and partied a lot. I'm so worried and scared for her. What if she gets too involved? What is she gets slipped drugs or worse, can't resist and relapses. Ronnie may hurt her if she keeps interfering with his affairs. Drugs can be so damaging. I've seen first hand how they've affected Sophie, it creeps me out how they've turned her from friend to foe. I can't imagine Jenny like that, but I've seen it happen. What if I lose her like we lost Sophie? Ronnie scares me. I can feel the small hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when he's around and I can't help but think that whatever happens, this whole thing will only end if someone puts a stop to Ronnie. I pray that my girlfriend doesn't think she's that someone. He's dangerous. Sometimes I think he might be even more dangerous than the drugs he deals._

_Thanks for listening, Emma._

As Emma finished her diary entry she re-read through it, after analysing her piece of written work for almost a good ten minutes she started to contemplate about how everything was affecting Jenny. _Maybe Jenny just wants to be able to be there for Sophie like people were for her. Or maybe Jenny wants to offer Sophie the help she wishes she'd been given. She must know how Sophie is feeling and can relate to it, why haven't I thought of this before! Stupid, Emma, stupid! I should really trust Jenny more about this though, if she thought it was dangerous she would stop helping. Or I hope she would. Although she's always be rather persistent… I need to go see Jenny. _

The shorthaired blonde got to her feet and put on some suitable clothes and footwear. She'd decided to go to the Bergmann's house to see Jenny. She ran down the stairs, calling out to her mother that she would be back later. She left the house and started to walk in the direction of Jenny's house, kicking some of the autumn leaves that had fallen to the ground as she went. The sky was starting to turn grey; it was close to four thirty in the afternoon and a storm was starting to roll in. Emma walked to Jenny's house, knowing the direction off by heart as she had been there so many times before. She walked up to the front door and knocked. Emma knew that Ben wouldn't be home as he's always out chasing after some girl and Mr. Bergmann was away on business. After three minutes of waiting for Jenny to answer the door she knocked again. Nobody answered. Emma tried the door handle and it was unlocked. _What?_ She frowned. She hesitantly let herself into the house and called out for Jenny.

Emma looked around the main entrance for Jenny but couldn't see her or hear anything. Slowly, she made her way up the stairs, calling out for her girlfriend once more but to no avail. Jenny's bedroom door was unlocked and as Emma got closer she could hear a soft beeping sound. The blonde entered the bedroom and located the source of the beeping. It was coming from Jenny's mobile phone which was sitting in the centre of her bed. Emma picked it up and turned it off placing it on the side table to charge as she knew Jenny had probably forgotten to – but why would Jenny go out and leave her phone behind? Unless it was simply a case of Jenny not wanting to have to deal with Emma after their fight, but would she really go out without her phone when she could just keep it off in her pocket?

She made her way back downstairs, keeping her eyes peeled for a glimpse of her girlfriend, and as she entered the kitchen area Emma noticed Jenny's glass of water still sat in the same place she had left it the day before. Emma moved through to the dining room next, the books from yesterday's study session were still exactly as she'd left them. Emma started to worry… something just didn't feel right.

She had spent a good half hour searching the house top to bottom. Emma let herself out of the back door and tried to look for Jenny in the yard. She searched under the house, behind trees, around the side with the little garden and even in the flower bed as she was getting rather desperate with her fruitless attempt to find Jenny. Emma had been searching the house for almost an hour until she gave up. Frustrated with not being able to talk to Jenny, she closed the house up and walked back home with her head hung low in defeat. She could hear the sound of sirens in the distance coming closer and closer. Emma turned to glance down main road which would take you into the centre of Cologne. An ambulance went speeding past her, lights flashing and siren sounding. Something just didn't feel right. Something just didn't feel right at all.


	4. Chapter 4

She heard hushed voices talking strongly and expertly and the sound of beeping machines. The smell of disinfectant was strong as the bright morning sun shined in her eyes. She felt exhausted, she couldn't move. She felt the darkness of sleep creeping upon her as she fell into a deep slumber once more.

In the small hospital room two men, one middle aged and the other in his mid twenties, stood over the brunette. They were both wearing white coats and held clipboards as they took down notes. They checked her vital signs and condition as the lunch lady moved the rattling trolley down the aisles into the wards.

"Her heart rate and pulse are still elevated 137 over 93 and 80 beats per minute. They have both dropped a fair bit from when she first came in. Her respiratory rate: 18 breaths per minute which is within the normal range and her temperature is only slightly elevated at 39.1°C."

"The heart rate, pulse and temperature can be explained through her moderate form of dehydration and will hopefully subside within the next twenty four hours. The IV drip is slowly replacing the fluids she has lost and now we only need her to wake up so we can find out her identity."

The younger doctor walked over to the clean white window ledge, closing the curtain slightly and recorded the vitals he had just observed. He looked over to the sleeping girl, hoping she would wake soon so she would have someone to come be with her. Her hair was a mess as she lay motionless in the middle of the bed with an IV line attached to her left hand, a cast on her right arm and many cords coming out from under her hospital gown to the machines monitoring her physical condition.

"She was very lucky that the lady who found her rang for an ambulance. If she would have been out there for any longer this would have been more than a moderate case of dehydration. She also appears to be exhausted as she hasn't woken yet. In four hours if she isn't awake I recommend giving her a shot of adrenaline. We can then also find out her identity so we can inform her next of kin."

"Before we leave, student Doctor Sablan, could you please check her pupil reaction to see if they are the same."

"Of course, Doctor Heyson," the younger man said as he walked over to the sleeping brunette, pulling a pen light out of his coat pocket. He lifted up the right eyelid followed by the left. "Both pupils are reacting normally."

As she felt the sharp light hit her eyes she started to stir, moaning and grumbling slightly as she was pulled from her peaceful slumber. She opened her eyes slowly; her vision was blurry at first as she looked around her surroundings. All white. She noticed two men standing over her as her eyes adjusted. She felt scared and out of place until she recognised where she was.

"Hello ma'am I'm Doctor Heyson and this is one of my students; Doctor Sablan. I would like to ask you some simple questions. Can you please tell us your name?"

"Jennifer Hartmann" she said, her throat hoarse.

"What is your date of birth?"

"April 5th 1992." Her eyes were getting heavy again as she fought back sleep.

"Can you tell me where you are Miss Hartmann?"

"I'm in a hospi..." her eyes closed as she lost her battle and succumbed once more to the sleep her body desperately needed.

"Doctor Sablan, can you please go and inform the registered nurse of our patient's identity?"

"Right away, Doctor."

The wind was blowing a soft breeze through her bedroom. Her curtains fluttered slightly as the pages in the open books flipped over gently. Emma sat at her desk, her legs crossed at her ankles under the chair as she bit into her chicken sandwich, which was cut into four triangle pieces. The blonde had been studying non-stop since she woke up that morning. Her stomach was in knots, it felt heavy and she was worried as an uneasy feeling had spread throughout her whole body. Something wasn't right and she hoped and prayed it had nothing to do with her girlfriend.

She chewed the end of her pen as she concentrated intently on the material before her. The words were starting to blur together in some instances but she pushed on. She could hear a buzzing noise, it was getting louder and more annoying until she realised it was her phone ringing beside her. She hoped it was Jenny, but it came up as a private number. Emma's heart sank a little.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello, Emma. It's Stefan Bergmann"

"Um, hi Mr Bergmann, is everything alright?" Emma said, her heart beating faster as she started to feel panic over take her.

"No. I need you to sit down and listen. Please don't interrupt either until I finish. Is this clear?"

"Yes, sir." Emma sat down as her stomach knotted and she pressed the phone closer to her ear.

"I'm currently out of town on an important business trip and Ben has gone away on holiday. I got a call from the hospital not long ago and Jenny has been admitted as she was found passed out with moderate dehydration. I need you to go to the hospital and see the doctors. I informed them that you would be coming in. Please keep me informed. I need to go now. Bye." Beep, beep, beep the call had been disconnected.

Emma sat there, in shock. Her heart was beating at a rapid pace. She could hear it and feel it wanting to burst out of her chest. She wanted to cry but all she could do was sit there and take big deep breaths. Her brain was in overdrive thinking of how Jenny could have gotten in hospital but she could only come up with nothing, apart from their fight the other day. She started to blame herself for what happened to Jenny. As she gripped the sheets images started to flood her vision. _'Jenny,' _she thought.

The blonde jumped to her feet grabbing her phone which had fallen onto the floor and rushed down the stairs in haste as the panic inside her was renewed, all she wanted to do was rush to the hospital and take Jenny's hand in her own, forgetting about everything else. She rushed around the living room knocking over the DVD rack, upturning lounge cushions, and making a mess of the place trying to find her bag so she could leave. She couldn't find it though she looked behind the television, under the books on the table and kicked the corner of the lounge in her fruitless attempt at finding her bag.

"Emma! What are you doing and what is wrong with you?" A female voice said loudly in a tone which suggested she was not happy with the now messy living room.

"Mum," Emma said, shocked that she was home. "I need to find my bag. Have you seen it? Jenny is in the hospital, I need to go see her."

Emma's Mum held her hand up as Emma went quiet.

"Emma, tell me slowly what happened. What is wrong with your friend?"

"Jenny, I got a call from Mr Bergmann he said Jenny is in hospital. He said dehydration or something. I need to go I need to see my girlfriend!" Emma slapped her hand to her mouth. She had just called Jenny her girlfriend in front of her mother. She hadn't told any of her family about her relationship with the brunette.

Ms. Muller looked at Emma and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back like she would to soothe a baby. "I'll drive you to the hospital, your bag is sitting on the kitchen table."

Emma ran into the kitchen and grabbed her bag as she held the front door open ushering her mother out of it and into the car as quickly as she could.

The blonde sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window as the trees flew past her. Her Mother was driving; lightly tapping her thumb on the steering wheel, biting her lower lip as if she wanted to say something. Emma had not spoken since they got into the car and it started to worry her Mother as being quiet was something Emma usually never did.

"I've always known Emma," Her mother said breaking the silence.

Emma was snapped out of the trance she was in. "You knew about Jenny?" she said shocked at her mother's knowledge.

"Well, not about Jenny. Just in general. The plaid shirts kind of gave you away, dear, and so did the endless ogling of girls on the television when you were younger."

"Oh" was the only response Emma could form as she went back to looking out the window, wishing her mum would speed up so she could be with Jenny once more.


	5. Chapter 5

Emma wound down the window slightly; letting the soft breeze hit her face. Inside the car was quiet; neither she, nor her mother had anything to say. The car was vibrating softly as the heavy machinery grinded and sent shockwaves out to the line of unmoving traffic stuck on the highway. A truck had lost traction, it rolled over colliding laterally with the barrier separating the flow of traffic. The content of the trucks load coating the tarred road.

Her fingers drummed on the armrest creating different toned sounds as she impatiently fidgeted in her seat. Forty five minutes had passed so far. Flashing lights from the emergency vehicles started to hurt her eyes making them water. Scrapping sounds echoed as fire fighters tried to free the driver after the area had been declared safe to occupy. Traffic control and hazard teams cleared up the dispersed content, creating a safe area to let cars pass through.

Large men in bright florescent vests started to signal with sign posts that it was safe to move. The car rumbled to life as the multiple lanes of traffic merged together; driving slowly through the cleared area escaping the scene of the accident. Emma perked up, sitting up as high and tall as she could. She was desperate to be by Jenny's side.

Speed was gained as her mother passed the scene and pressed down on the accelerator. The wind now started to hiss by as Emma wound her window up as it swept through the car and started to sting her face. Road signs started to signal that the hospital was close by as her mother took the next exit off the highway. The main street leading to the hospital came into view as Emma started to prepare herself. The car rumbled and came to a stop in the pickup bay she unfastened her seatbelt, jumping out of the car silently thanking her mother.

She speed walked through the automatic glass doors and into the reception bay. She stood in line behind two people; waiting to find out what room Jenny was in. She thought she had written it down but in her haste of wanting to reach her girlfriend; she forgot whether or not she had received such information. Her foot tapped impatiently as her heart raced in her chest. One person in front of her now, she threaded her fingers through her hair and scratched her arm. The person stepped aside making room for her to talk to the woman at reception.

"Hello, can you please tell me what room Jennifer Hartmann is in," Emma asked, strumming her fingers on the desk.

"One moment please," the receptionist turned to her computer, typing at a rapid pace pulling up details needed to give the impatient blonde. She pulled a pen and paper out from in front of her and wrote down the ward, room and bed number.

"Thank you," Emma took the paper from her; turning right and going down the corridor to the elevator. She pressed the up button multiple times hoping it would arrive quicker. Her foot started to tap the ground once more; the elevator shuttered to a halt in front of her as the doors opened. She stepped in pressing the fourth floor button followed by the close door button. It started to move up slowly stopping at every floor to allow more people to get to their destination. Emma was standing right in the middle of the doors refusing to move. The elevator slowed signalling the fourth floor. She slipped through the half open doors turning to the right, going to the west wing.

The nurse at the desk smiled while shuffling paperwork around in front of her, Emma approached the desk slowly looking at the nurse as she informed her she was here to see Jenny. The nurse kindly told her it was okay to go sit with Jenny and that the doctor will be in shortly to talk with her. Emma thanked the nurse as she turned to the rooms and quickly walked into room seven and found bed five.

She stopped in front of Jenny's bed and took a long look at her. Her hair was dishevelled, her skin pasty and blanched. She was reposed in the middle of the bed the crisp sheets tucked up to her armpits with her arms lying on top of them. Her right arm was in a white plaster cast from her hand to just below her elbow. An IV line was situated in the back of her left hand, the vein prodding under the surface of her skin.

The blonde took slow tentative steps towards her pulling a chair to the bed as she carefully took Jenny's left hand in her own and placed a tender kiss on her tepid fingers. She sat there and stared at the brunette, she looked peaceful and calm as her chest slowly rose with each breath she took. It mesmerised Emma as she brought her chair closer to the bed as she rested her elbow on the mattress, watching her girlfriend.

She could hear the sounds of faint noises as the haze of sleep left her. She felt her body now, it ached. Pain boiled up in her right wrist; her legs felt like dead weights and the soles of her feet felt like they had been torn to shreds. There was warmth coming from her left hand, she relished in the feeling as she tried to let it warm her. The sound of the noises were getting louder as she was able to distinguish them; machines, beeping, voices, chairs moving, pens scratching on paper and soft breathing. Her eyes opened as she stared into her girlfriends face, blue eyes meeting hazel. She saw the smile spread on Emma's face; she smiled in return as joyfulness fulfilled her.

"How are you feeling," Emma asked as her thumb traced shapes on Jenny's hand.

"Sore and tired," Jenny whispered her voice coated in sleep as Emma placed a kiss on her forehead. "I think I need to sit up and have a drink," the blonde responded to her girlfriends' wishes she took hold of the bedside remote and moved it to a sitting position. She grasped the handle of the water pitcher and filled a cup half way handing it too the brunette.

Emma sat in the chair once more watching Jenny vigilantly take a sip of water. She swashed it around in her mouth before swallowing. The plastic cup was empty seconds after, she handed it to the blonde who filled it again. Jenny studied Emma's face, the expression she was harbouring was the one she usually had when she wanted to apologise or felt bad for what she had done.

"Emma," Jenny said knowingly; holding eye contact with the blonde. Emma's eyes cast downwards; Jenny placed her hand under her girlfriends chin and raised it up "I want to explain to you why I want to help Sophie, please don't interrupt and if you have any questions you can ask at the end okay?" Emma nodded her head slowly cueing Jenny to start talking.

"When I was living in London I mixed with the wrong kind of people. I only valued popularity and wanted to be known by everyone. I didn't care about what happened around me, I was selfish and only interested in myself. The people who I mixed with were involved in drugs as you know and I started to get addicted to taking them. At first I thought I would be able to control it without any problems; I was wrong. I started to steal from my parents, relatives and friends. I would take money and sometimes expensive valuables to trade in. I became reckless and had outbursts at everyone I loved. They were trying to care for me but I was too blind to realise it. The drugs were affecting the way I started to see people and it made me lose trust in everyone I knew. The only thing I was concerned about was when and where I could get my next fix. One day I ended up overdosing. I woke two days later after having my stomach pumped and my system flushed with charcoal. My parents hired people to help me and forced me to get drug screenings every day. They put bars on all the windows in the house, we had a live in drug counsellor and I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without someone present. I was going through withdrawals, I started to hallucinate, I was having nightmares and was verbally abusing those around me but no matter what; my parents wouldn't give in. After a few weeks the cravings got weaker and my mind started to clear. I started to learn how to trust again with clarity. Six months after I overdosed and was drug free my parents sent me over here to Cologne to start a new life and be free of my past," Jenny's eyes wandered to the window as she looked outside as the storm clouds started to gather in the sky creating patterns of white, blue and grey.

She focused back on Emma who was sitting silently absorbing all the information Jenny was sharing with her. "When I moved here I was ready and willing to let my past go and forget about it. Then I met Sophie and I saw myself in her. I was once like her. The only difference was I had people who were willing to be by my side and help me every step of the way even though all I did was push them away. Sophie doesn't have that. I know how she is feeling and the way she is thinking, that's why it means so much to me that I help her. I don't know what would have happened to me if I didn't get help when I did and I don't want to witness the outcome of it through Sophie," Emma took Jenny's hand in her own and gave it a soft squeeze looking her in the eye seeking permission to talk.

"Jenny, thank you for explaining it to me, I'm sorry I haven't supported you on this decision. I know what you are saying now and I never knew before so again I am sorry. I love you with all my heart and I care deeply for your wellbeing and if you choose to help Sophie I will now stand by your side willing to help you if you will let me. I will respect any decision you make in the future to help her, but please think of your own safety first. That is all I ask," Emma kissed her hand and waited for the brunette to respond to her.

"Thank you Emma, it's really means a lot to me that you now see the situation the way I do. I love you and I don't want to fight over it any more. I don't think angry running to calm down is really meant for me either," she said laughing looking at Emma whose eyes shone with unshed tears.

"I'm so glad you're safe now, my Jenny," Emma leaned over the bed and kissed the brunette softly on the lips pulling away while she looked deep into her eyes saying, "I love you," as the doctor walked in to the room, ready to check on Jenny.


	6. Chapter 6

The sound of a man coughing brought Emma and Jenny out of their intense eye lock. Emma jumped back startled, reclaiming her seat, her ears bright red. She looked out of the window. The storm clouds were being light up by lightening as it started to lightly rain. Jenny sat there and watched Emma before she smiled and gave the doctor her attention; waiting for him to speak.

"Hello Miss Hartmann, how are you feeling?" the doctor asked her, adjusting his stethoscope slightly.

"I feel better than when I woke up earlier. I still ache everywhere and my arm really hurts. I'm really tired, keep falling asleep but, other than that, I want to go home," she looked at the Doctor, pulling her best puppy dog eyes look, hoping he would let her leave. She was cradling her broken wrist to her chest and he looked at her sceptically.

"We'll see later. The nurse will be in during non-visiting hours to check you over and run some tests. With the results, we will then determine the next course of action to take," he played with his stethoscope again. His eyes turned to Emma "Visiting hours will be over in fifteen minutes; please use this time wisely until evening hours start," he turned sharply and left the room, hurrying off to his next patient.

Emma looked around the room, chewing her bottom lip, searching for the right words to say as she moved some blonde strands of hair from her face and placed her hands in her lap.

"Jenny, what was it like in the forest, if you don't mind me asking?" Emma asked nervously, fidgeting in her seat as she gripped her hands tightly, hoping for a response from the brunette before she had to leave.

"I went for a run after our fight because I was feeling a bit angry and just wanted to get rid of it. I just ran wherever my feet wanted to take me. I ended up in the forest and I don't know how long I was running in it for. I ended up tripping, face-planting the ground and, when I got up, I leant against an old broken tree. The tree tipped over and I fell with it, breaking my wrist. I think I may have sworn a lot too but I really can't remember. Then it started raining. I got scared and angry again but I went and found somewhere to stay for the night. I fell asleep; woke up the next morning and started to find my way back. I saw some really pretty birds which reminded me of you. The patterns on their feathers were black and white stripes it reminded me of you and your shirt collection," She looked at Emma and they shared a little laugh before Jenny continued.

"I walked some more even though I was very tired and I found a stream. I followed it, going through trees and grass. I really can't remember much of it near the end though. I get flashes of bits and pieces like a clear opening and a fence but that's all. The only other thing I remember is waking up here in pain," Jenny took Emma's hand in her own, squeezing it, letting her girlfriend know she was okay.

There was a soft knock at the door as the handle turned and the door creaked open. A middle aged nurse with greying hair entered the room, pushing a small trolley and smiling at the blonde and brunette.

"I'm sorry my dear but visiting hours are over and I need to run some tests on Miss Hartmann," The nurse said softly giving Emma and apologetic smile.

"Okay then," Emma said as she stood up, giving Jenny a hug and a kiss on her forehead before she left closing the door softly behind her.

The nurse turned to Jenny and smiled sweetly before talking, "Good afternoon dear, I need to check your vital signs, take some blood for samples and check your IV line. Is it okay with you if I run my tests?"

Jenny nodded her head to the nurse giving her permission as her mind started to wander, thinking about recent events. _'I'm so glad I'm out of the forest, it was scary. I just want Emma to come back, I never realised how much I would miss being away from her. I was so happy and filled with such pleasure when I looked into her eyes today. My heart must have skipped a beat. This elastic thing on my arm hurts, ow! Needle! Ew! Do not watch Jennifer, do not watch! Okay that's over with thank god. Ow! She's checking the needle thing in hand, owwie!_

_Stop being such a wimp. Oh the nurse is talking again, I better listen."_

"I'm going to go inform the doctors of your vital signs and drop the blood samples off at the lab. You will find out within the next four or so hours if you will be allowed to go home or not as you have greatly improved over the last twelve hours dear," the nurse gathered all of her equipment and notes, leaving the room to allow Jenny to get some rest.

She sniffed the air, smelling the scent of delicious food coming from the floor below her. The blonde's stomach rumbled as she took a step onto the elevator. She waited till it reached the bottom before stepping off it and following her nose to the hospital canteen. She pushed open the door and went straight for the hot food section. Emma ordered a chicken and rice dish, which looked appetising, and an orange juice. After she had paid for her food, Emma walked into the seating area and chose to sit in the back corner by herself to think.

Emma started to eat her food, shovelling it into her mouth with the plastic spoon provided. The blonde's mind was distracted. She knew that Jenny was now safe but she still worried about her blue-eyed girlfriend. _'When I heard about Jenny I was so overcome with worry. I can't believe I told my mum that Jenny was my girlfriend; I was sure she was going to freak out! I want to know how she knew though. Did I always look like a lesbian and wear plaid? Oh my, I hope not. How many other people in my family know I'm gay? Oh my god, oh my god! Jenny! I was so worried about her and when I saw her I was so relieved that I could be with her. She looked really bad before but now she looks better. I hope she can come home soon and not have to stay in here. I don't like hospitals much, I feel as though I'm going to catch some antibiotic resistant deadly strain of some super bug. Oh bugger, all my food is gone. Maybe I should go get Jenny some stuff just in case she's not allowed to go home. What to get her though? She needs clothes and toiletries. I will go get them for her... I could walk there but it will take a long time, then I will need to bring it back here for her. If she can come home, I don't want her by herself. She will stay with me. I will ask Mum and get her to take me to Jenny's to get some stuff for her. I know where she keeps her spare key. Now where's my mobile phone?' _

Emma searched her pockets, patting them down till she located her phone. She pulled it out and rang her mother.

After three rings her mother answered the phone _'Hello'._

"Hi Mum, I was wondering if it would be okay if Jenny could stay over for a few days, if she gets out of hospital today?" Emma asked nervously as she played with her spoon, waiting for her mother's response.

'_It would be fine, sweetie.'_

"Visiting hours are over now, so I was going to go get Jenny some stuff. Can you pick me up and drive me to Jenny's?" she started to chew her lip as she thought she was asking for too much.

'_Of course, the accident on the highway has cleared so I will be there in ten minutes. I will meet you out the front.'_

"Thank you Mum and bye,"

"_Bye sweetie, see you soon," _the call came to an end.

Emma put her phone back into her pocket and cleaned up the table she was using; placing all her rubbish in the bin. The blonde slowly made her way out the front, almost bumping into people as she was thinking of Jenny and what she needed most. As the automatic doors opened she felt the wind hit her face. Emma walked over to a wooden seat sheltered by the building and sat down. She watched the rain pitter-patter on the ground as she looked out for her mother's white car.

The blonde jittered in her seat anxiously as she noticed her mother's car at the set of traffic lights. The rain was heavier now, as the wind started to blow. The traffic lights turned green. Emma got up and moved as close as she could to the pickup bay without getting wet. The white car pulled up. The blonde ran to the car and got into the passenger seat; closing the door as quickly as she could.

"How's Jenny, kiddo?" Ms. Muller asked as Emma did up her seatbelt.

"Jenny is good, Mum. She looks a little bit sickly and has a broken wrist but she just wants to get out of the hospital. She says she is fine, just tired," Emma stated nodding her head as she finished.

"That's good then Emma. Now tell me about this mysterious girl I have yet to meet?" she probed trying to get something out of her daughter.

"Well, Jenny is adorable. She has really nice blue eyes and brown hair. She's from London but doesn't have an English accent, which I find a bit weird. Apart from that she is the most kind-hearted, sweetest and headstrong girl I have had the pleasure to know. She is very smart, witty with her words and has the cutest puppy-dog eyes," Emma said enthusiastically as she didn't have to hold anything back.

"I cannot wait to meet her then. We are almost at her house. Do you know how to get in?"

"Yes. There is a spare key inside the pot plant in the garden," Emma stated matter-of-factly.

Ms. Muller parked the car on the curb of the street, telling Emma she would wait here for her as she got out of the car. The blonde entered the property and walked over to the left side of the garden avoiding soaked parts of the lawn to find the cracked black pot plant to take the key out of it; so she could open the door. She slid the key in to the lock and turned it. After she heard the familiar clicking sound, she entered the house thankful to be out of the rain and went straight to Jenny's bedroom.

'_Where would Jenny keep a large bag,'_ Emma thought to herself as she looked through Jenny's closet, moving aside a lot of pairs of multicoloured shoes and handbags. Ten minutes later and empty handed Emma went into Ben's room to find a bag. She looked around his room and spotted an empty gym bag on the floor. The blonde took it to Jenny's room, sitting it on the bed and making a mental list of what Jenny would need.

'_Okay Emma, What would Jenny need for two to three days? Essential items... undergarments, pants, shirts, jumpers, scarves, hats, hand warmers, toiletries, socks, shoes, slippers, dressing gown... Focus, Emma, focus! Mum is waiting. Three changes of clothes with undergarments. Socks, slippers, a pair of shoes and toiletries – essential items.'_

Emma went over to Jenny's drawer and riffled through it until she found four sets of undergarments and socks. She folded them up and placed them in the side pocket of the bag for easy access. She opened up the next draw; shirts. Three of them were removed and placed in the bag, all with crazy images on them. Next draw were pants, Emma placed two pairs of tracksuit pants into the bag and one pair of leggings. The blonde found Jenny's giraffe jumper and placed that in the bag along with three pairs of pyjamas. Shoes and slippers went into a separate part of the bag as Emma entered the bathroom and got some toiletries Jenny might need.

The short-haired blonde zipped the bag up and placed it over her shoulder. She grabbed Jenny's keys, phone and charger on her way out of the room, closing the door softly behind her as she headed for the stairs. The bag bumped against her knee as she closed the door to the Bergmann's and placed the spare key from where she got it, going back to the car quickly so she could get out of the dreadful rain. Emma opened the back door of the car, scaring her mother as she put the bag on the seat. After she was all buckled up and warming up with the heater on, Ms Muller started the car; they were on their way back to the hospital so Emma could be with Jenny once more.

"I hope you didn't over pack for Jenny, I know what you are like at times,"

"Mum, I packed a reasonable amount of clothes for her for three days plus toiletries. I did not over pack anything... this time," Emma said sighing as she knew her mother's words held truth to them. She always over-packed and would probably over-pack for the rest of her life.

Emma looked out the window as her mother drove. The sky was dark and cloudy; it was a bit past five pm and raining. Emma was feeling tired and run down, but that wouldn't stop her from seeing Jenny again. She didn't notice that they were around the corner from the hospital until her mother spoke to her.

"Emma, we are almost at the hospital. I suggest leaving the bag of Jenny's stuff in the car. If she is allowed to be discharged it will save you carrying it to the room and back. If not I can always bring it up later when I come to pick you up after visiting hours are over for the day," Emma nodded her head in agreement, as she prepared to get out of the car as soon as her mother had pulled over.

"Bye Mum!" she yelled through a rumble of thunder, as she dashed into the hospital to get out of the rain which was starting to ease up slightly.

Emma made her way to the fourth floor of the hospital and headed for the west wing. It was 5:35pm; visiting hours didn't start till six. There were a pile of old magazines sitting on an old, small table in the middle of the room. Emma went over to them, picking three of them up and retreating to a seat in the corner that looked to be comfortable. She was the only person in the waiting room and she was thankful for some alone time. She flipped through the pages, reading articles that seemed interesting to pass the time. It had felt like she had been waiting for hours when she still had ten minutes left to wait. As she watched the hands of the clock tick by slowly, people started to fill the waiting room.

Two minutes to six. Emma was waiting in front of the doors, ready to open them when the automatic timer went off. She tapped her foot, impatiently. She heard the sound of mechanisms turn as the door clicked. She pushed it open, making her way past the reception area to Jenny's room. She knocked softly on the door and entered.

"Hey Emma," Jenny said, smiling brightly as she took a sip of hot chocolate.

"Hey, how are you? Have you heard back from the doctors yet?" Emma asked taking a seat next to the bed.

"I'm good. This is really good hot chocolate. I should hear back from the doctors soon. They said before seven so within the next hour hopefully. I really want to get out of here. I don't like hospitals," Jenny said shrugging her shoulders as she finished her hot chocolate, passing the cup to Emma to place in the bin.

"They did remove the IV drip, the nurse left it in but just before dinner she came and took it out. That thing was rather uncomfortable. I hope her taking it out means something good," Jenny said hope laced through her voice.

"I hope it does too, are you sure you are feeling okay Jenny?"

"Emma, I'm sure. Just tired and my wrist hurts, nothing more," she reassured her girlfriend.

A hard knock came from the door making Emma jump a bit in shock as the doctor from before entered the room. He held a clipboard with many papers attached to it with a pen slid under the clip.

"Ms. Hartmann, we have your test results back. You have greatly improved in the last twelve hours. Most of your results have come back normal, but you are not fully hydrated yet. I am willing to discharge you under certain circumstances. You are to have someone with you for the next two days, you need to drink at least two glasses of water an hour till this time tomorrow and you will need to see your local doctor in three days. Is that acceptable?" He said looking over the rim of his glasses, which he hadn't been wearing before.

"Yes very acceptable, Doctor," Jenny said smiling brightly, her eyes shining with happiness.

"I will just leave these papers with you, please read them and sign them. There is one part your friend will need to sign too. I will be back in forty-five minutes with a wheelchair to collect them and officially release you," he gave the clipboard to Jenny and walked out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Jenny sat up crossing her legs on the bed resting the clipboard on them and turned to Emma. "Are you sure you want to stay with me?" she asked nervously.

"Of course, Jenny. I may have also told my Mum about us by accident and she said you can stay with us for a while. My Dad has taken my siblings on a camping trip for the week, so it should be peaceful. Now hurry up and sign the forms. I'm going to go ring Mum and tell her to pick us up soon," Emma kissed Jenny on the forehead, before leaving the room to make her call.

Jenny removed the pen and started to read and fill in the paperwork she was given. Five minutes later Emma returned informing her that her Mum would be there in half an hour and that she would wait. The blonde sat behind her girlfriend and read over her shoulder. They filled out page after page until, thirty-five minutes later, they were finished.

They checked over the papers, carefully making sure everything was filled in, as the doctor came into the room with a wheelchair. "Have you finished filling in the papers?" he asked as he walked over to the bed, placing the wheelchair near the foot of it.

"Yes, we have both checked it" Jenny handed the clipboard back to him and watched him intently as he checked it all. He turned the pages slowly. As he got to the last one, he looked up at them. "These all seem to be in order, you may leave now. The wheelchair will be collected out the front of the premises. The clothing you came in is in a plastic bag hanging off the handle," He walked over to Jenny as Emma got off the bed and the doctor turned off the vital signs monitor. He removed the cords from her as he brought the wheelchair over and helped her into it. Jenny got comfortable, resting her broken wrist gingerly on her lap as Emma started to push her, thanking the staff on the way out as she was handed a referral to go see her doctor.

As they waited by the elevator, Jenny kept on hitting the down button. She wanted to get out of the hospital. She had had too many past experiences in them and it made her want to run away from it as quickly as she could. She let out the breath she was holding as the elevator doors slowly opened in front of her as Emma wheeled her in, turning her so that it would be easier to exit when they got to the first floor.

The elevator slowly made its way down, floor by floor. Jenny was getting nervous as she was about to meet Emma's mother for the first time and it scared her. She started to fidget a little looking around the elevator. The doors dinged, signalling the first floor. "Are you happy to be out of here?" she heard Emma ask.

"Yes, very happy to be out of here." She looked up at Emma and smiled, hiding her nervousness.

As they reached the main entrance of the hospital, they saw a white car turn its headlights on and drive up to the pickup zone. Emma took the bag of clothing from the wheelchair before helping Jenny up, supporting her as they started to walk towards the car in the sprinkling rain.


	7. Emma's Crazy Thoughts  Insight

They walked to where the shelter cut off; they would have to face the rain and get wet. The side paths around them were wet, sleek and slippery with spillages covering them. Emma was nervous about helping Jenny to get to the car. The road was covered in oil it was shining as the moonlight reflected off it. It looked dangerous. Emma looked around her, trying to find a suitable way to get Jenny to the car without any risk of danger.

Jenny was leaning most of her weight onto Emma, making it hard for Emma to stand upright. Her right arm was supporting Jenny around her waist as she mapped paths in her head. She could go left and in front of the car. There was a grating covering the gutter. _'What happens if Jenny gets stuck and falls through? What about the small puddle of water, Jenny could step in it, get wet and sick! Oh my god the rain! It can make her sick too!' _Emma looked to the right now determining if she could go around the back of the car. _'There is a small puddle I could walk around, but my boots would get wet! Not the boots! But the tree! A leaf could fall and touch Jenny's hair. How mortifying! I could not forgive myself if that happened!' _

Emma looked straight ahead of her. Her mother's white car was parked about 10 metres away. Going straight to the car could have been a possibility. Emma looked at the ground before her _'I could never walk straight to the car; I just cannot do things simply. Look at all the water pouring down! I could drown, Jenny's hair could get wet! The oil on the road... oooh shiny... I could slip, Jenny would slip. Oh my god how could I ever let that happen, I would never be able to forgive myself'._

The rain started to come down even heavier now. Emma looked up at the sky; the dark clouds had fully rolled in. Lightning was bright in the sky crackling with the thunder. The ground below was being lit up illuminating the dull day. Rain was falling down in bucket loads; Emma looked at Jenny and then back up at the sky _'damn you Rainy weather, look what you make me do!' _Emma had to rethink a whole new strategy now that the rain was heavier.

"Emma, can we just walk to the car now," Jenny asked tiredly

"Okay, okay geez Louise," Emma held Jenny tighter as an ambulance pulled up just in front of them. Emma took a step behind it with Jenny, getting ready to brave all her fears and worries and cross the road!


	8. Chapter 7

The sprinkling rain dropped down coating the footpath and road with wetness. Emma was nervous as she surveyed the area; her mind ran a mile a minute with different case scenarios. There were patches of water in places on the footpath and the rain had disturbed some oil spills on the road; making them more of a hazard then they were before. Just to the right there where two girls, one of them had a remote controlled shark while the dark haired one was wishing her a happy birthday continuously. The blonde looked past that as she heard Jenny say something to her. She tightened her grip on the brunette as an ambulance pulled up into the bay; she took a step onto the road.

Emma looked both ways before she walked over to the car. The rain made both of their shirts slightly wet and see-through. She opened the back door and helped Jenny into the car. It was warm and Jenny sighed in relief as Emma slid into the seat next to her. The brunette felt the car rumble as it started to move forward; they both did up their seatbelts. She looked at the driver's seat and studied Emma's mother. The older lady had dark blonde hair; tied up in a lose bun, green eyes from what she could see from the rear view mirror and she had some very fine age lines showing.

"Jenny dear, how are you feeling?" Jenny was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard Emma's mum speak to her.

"I'm doing fine Ma'am, just a bit tired and sore," she answered truthfully, holding her right arm close to her.

"Please call me Melanie." She smiled as she looked at Jenny in the rear view mirror. "When we get back home you can rest sweetie. Emma will help you get settled in," Melanie said turning the corner.

Jenny looked out of the window as she played with the top of the cast on her right arm. It was dark, wet and miserable as she watched the scenery pass-by. She couldn't see much but the sound of the rain falling onto the ground in an even beat was making her feel sleepy. The car moving evenly along the road keeping the same speed almost continuously helped Jenny to drift off into a light sleep. The car pulled up into the driveway and as the engine turned off it brought Jenny out of her light sleep and made her look around the interior lazily. She blinked a few times before waking up enough to get out of the car; helped by Emma.

The path outside of Emma's home was made of uneven stones making the blonde worry as she supported Jenny to the door; which her mother had opened. Inside the house was warm and cosy. It was very well lived in and was decorated by many pictures of children at different ages. There were pictures of two older girls who look like Emma, Emma herself and some of a younger boy about twelve years old.

Emma helped Jenny over to the lounge as she got comfortable. The front door creaked open softly as Melanie came in carrying Jenny's bag of clothes Emma had packed for her. "Emma, can you please take this up to your room sweetie," she handed the bag to Emma; watching her go up the stairs as she turned to face Jenny.

"I know it's a bit late and all but I am going to cook something for dinner. Is there anything you would like sweetie?" Melanie asked Jenny.

"I could eat anything at the moment," Jenny responded smiling at the older lady trying not to yawn.

"Okay then sweetie. When Emma comes down she can show you up to her room and you can rest for a while. You seem very tired dear," She walked into the kitchen giving Jenny no say in the matter.

A few minutes later Emma started to come down the stairs; she dropped down onto each of them making a dull thudding sound as it slightly echoed. She looked around and saw Jenny on the lounge smiling at her; she could hear her mother in the kitchen busily preparing dinner. Her stomach grumbled as the thought of food crossed her mind. The blonde saw her girlfriend yawn as the distinct voice of her mother floated through the room. "Emma; please show Jenny up to your room. She can rest until dinner time," Emma walked over to Jenny while replying to her mum; Jenny got up as Emma started to carefully help her up the stairs making sure she did nothing too quickly.

"Emma, you can stop acting as though I'm made of glass. I'm not going to break walking up stairs," Jenny said affectionately as she saw Emma's ears turn red and her mouth open and shut as if she was looking for something to say. "Where is your room, Emma?" Jenny asked helping Emma out by not making her think of a response to her last comment.

"It's the second door on the right down the hallway," she said reaching the top of the staircase and leading Jenny to her room.

The blonde pushed the door open letting Jenny enter the room before her as she lead her over to the bed. Jenny looked around Emma's room for the first time whilst being sat down. She was amazed at how clean and organised it was; she had thought that Emma's room would be messy. There was a gym bag at the end of the bed; it took her a few minutes to realise who the bag belonged to before she looked up at Emma and asked.

"Emma, why is Ben's gym bag here?"

"Um, well today I went over to your house and got you some stuff I thought you would need if you were going to be staying in the hospital. There are only a few changes of clothes and some toiletries. I had to pack you the bare essentials. I was going to pack more but then I thought against it," Emma's eyes found Jenny's as she smiled at her.

"Thank you Emma, that's really sweet," Jenny said watching Emma walk over to the bag.

"I can unpack it for you. The two top draws are empty. I cleaned them out earlier," Emma said as she unzipped the bag and placed most of the clothing in the second draw, leaving the top one exclusively for her matching panties and bras.

The blonde felt a soft tug on the back of her shirt; it was Jenny. She turned to her and kissed her softly on the lips, enjoying the sensation it created. The brunette scooted over a bit on the bed so Emma could lye next to her. Emma wrapped her arms around Jenny being careful of her broken wrist as they cuddled contently waiting for dinner to be ready. Emma's fingers slowly ran up and down Jenny's arm making her snuggle her face into Emma's neck. The blonde placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's temple as they relished in the feeling of being close.

Three knocks on the door startled them out of their bliss as they heard Melanie call out to them; dinner was ready. Emma helped Jenny on the stairs once more as they entered the kitchen which had been set up with three dinner plates. Jenny looked around the room, it was of medium size, there were a few pictures scattered on the fridge held up by homemade ceramic magnets, the smell coming from the food was very pleasant to her as her stomach rumbled in anticipation. The brunette felt a hand on her lower back as Emma motioned her to sit down at the table.

Jenny was nervous to be around Emma's mother and having to spend dinner with the older woman had Jenny squirming in her seat slightly. Melanie looked at Jenny and smiled at her; she had the same smile as Emma. They all started to eat; Jenny wasn't use to eating with her left hand so it was amusing to watch her attempt to do it. Only some soft giggles from Emma could heard.

"So tell me how you two met?" the silence was broken as blue eyes met hazel.

Jenny started to speak as she put her fork down "We met at school when I moved here from London. I was new and I was in one of Emma's classes, I sat next to her on my first day. At the beginning we didn't exactly see eye to eye at times and I kept on forgetting her name but she was always nice to me and tried to help me out whenever needed. We had a few disagreements but we moved past them especially when we had our strike. We had another few hurdles in the middle but here we are today," she reached over and held Emma's hand. "We love each other and I think that nothing can come between us and if it does we will sort our way through it," the brunette squeezed Emma's hand while making eye contact with her and smiling; the dimple on her cheek showing.

"That's adorable, I'm glad you both see eye to eye now. You two seem very good for each other; Emma has had a smile on her face almost all the time in the last few months. I bet it was because of you," Melanie looked at Emma, her daughters ears were red.

"Mum," Emma complained groaning as both her mother and Jenny laughed.

The rest of dinner went smoothly, Jenny was listening to Melanie tell stories about Emma as a child and hearing Emma complain about them while watching her go bright red. Jenny yawned slightly muffling it with her arm as Melanie's eyes fell on her.

"I think it's time someone went to rest," Melanie said looking at Jenny. "Emma could you please help her up to your room, then come do the dishes."

"Okay Mum," Emma helped Jenny up to the bedroom then joined her mother in the kitchen. The sink was already full of dirty dishes as her mother started to clean them; stacking them on the side. Emma took a tea-towel and started to dry them.

"Jenny is a very lovely girl, hun," Melanie said smiling affectionately at her daughter.

"Thanks Mum, she is. I love her a lot," Emma said embarrassed; telling her mother that.

"I can see it when you look at each dear. Good catch there Em, she's a keeper," Melanie winked at Emma causing her daughter to laugh.

The washing and drying up was done, it felt like a weight was lifted off Emma's chest as she could talk about Jenny with her mother without having to worry about anything. The blonde was happy that her father had taken her siblings out camping for the week. Emma could deal with only one family member at a time meeting her girlfriend. It was getting late and Emma was tired. She had a quick shower then joined Jenny in the bedroom.

Jenny was sleeping peacefully on her left side with a pillow propped under her broken wrist. Emma crawled into the bed and cuddled her from behind. Jenny smelt good as the blonde brought Jenny closer to herself, she was tired and sleep soon overtook her as she dreamed away into the night.

The sound of a phone vibrating and ringing brought Emma out of her sleep. Jenny was still sleeping as Emma jumped up to stop the sound of the phone from waking the brunette. She looked at the caller ID and saw 'Sophie'. She went outside the room before hitting answer.

"Hello, Sophie. It's Emma," she said softly into the receiver.

"_Emma the graffiti is looking at my oddly, I think it's moving closer towards me, it looks hungry." _

"Sophie, were are you, do you want me to come help you?" Emma asked knowing it would be what Jenny would want her to do.

"_If you can stop the graffiti from looking at me, I'm under the walkway bridge,"_ Sophie said as she moved the phone away from her and hung it up.

Emma walked back into the bedroom; Jenny was still sleeping, her even breaths soothing the blonde. She walked over to her desk and picked up a pen and piece of paper. She wrote down a note for Jenny _'Sophie called, gone to help. Be back soon. Love you. Emma.'_

Emma went down to the kitchen and got a water bottle and the first aid kit from the top of the fridge. She didn't know what to expect with Sophie so she was going to be ready for anything. She put them into her backpack and was about to leave. She saw her reflection in the window by the door; she was still in her pink panther pyjamas. The blonde quickly got changed and grabbed a banana of the table and went on the search for Sophie.


	9. Chapter 8

The sky started to clear as the sun shone brightly from in between the clouds; soft rays hit Emma on her face; warming her up. The cool breeze flowed gently as the city of Cologne started to awaken as the birds sang the songs of the morning. Emma rubbed her hands together as she walked down the cracked footpath on her way to find and help Sophie.

Emma was nervous and pensive about helping Sophie; her dedication and trust in Jenny though brought her to where she was going. As she walked down the narrow road many thoughts drifted through her head _'I wonder where Sophie is under the bridge, she said near graffiti but the whole walkway has been covered in graffiti; what if I miss her? I hope she is okay though, we aren't really close at the moment but she is still my friend. I wonder if Jenny is awake and has seen my note. What will she think? I hope she is okay with me going to help Sophie.'_

As the sun radiated off the steel railings on top of the walkway Emma squinted her eyes as she walked down the grassy slope to enter the under passage to access the walkway. It was cold and damp; she walked along the side near the wall; her eyes darting back and forth searching for Sophie. The graffiti was scrawled everywhere; group tags were sprayed over everything including the ground. Emma remembered back too when she was on the phone to Sophie '_the graffiti is looking at me'. _Emma raised her head higher and filtered through the graffiti looking for something able to 'see'.

The blonde had been searching for ten minutes. She didn't remember the walkway ever taking so long to walk. She could hear the echoing sound of water drip through a crack along with the sound of her own footsteps. This time Emma concentrated on looking at the ground _'maybe Sophie has passed out,' _Emma thought to herself as she was to absorbed in analysing the walls the first time through. The passage wasn't very well light so Emma took one of the flashlights she permanently kept in her bag.

The light bounced off the floor and walls; in the distance beyond the horizon of the light she could see someone crouching down on the ground. She walked quickly over to the person, putting her flashlight away. It was Sophie. Emma bent down to her level and spoke to her.

"Sophie, are you okay?" Emma asked her worried.

"The graffiti; it was looking at me, it looks hungry. It stole my last pill," Sophie said trying to stand up.

Emma grabbed her arm and helped her to stand up, letting go of her only when she was sure she wouldn't fall. The blonde was ready to catch her if she did fall though. Sophie shook her head and looked at Emma, her eyes very dark, almost black in colour. "Sophie, do you want to get out of here?" Emma asked looking her in the eye.

"The graffiti stole my pill though, I need it back," Sophie said desperately

"You said the graffiti looks hungry; if we stay in here much longer it may come after you," Emma said trying not to laugh as she coaxed Sophie with her words.

"Oh my God, we need to get out of here, Emma," Sophie stated panic showing in her facial expression.

Emma took Sophie by the arm and walked with her slowly towards the exit. Sophie was being delusional. She kept on talking nonsense which Emma had a hard time understanding. At times she would make animal sounds saying she was calling in her army to come defend her against the evil graffiti. As the light got brighter the blonde could see the small grassy slope she walked down to get under the walkway. Sophie was stumbling over her own feet; Emma kept her upright until they got to the grassy slope where she helped Sophie to sit down. She pulled the water bottle out of her bag and handed it to the red head. Sophie didn't look injured to Emma as she observed her downing half the bottle of water in a few mouthfuls.

"Sophie, where would you like to go? Do you want to go home?" Emma asked sitting down next to her.

Sophie lay back on the grass; rubbing her face sleepily, "Home, then nothing can stare at me there or look at me hungrily," the red head said slurring her words as she attempted to get up.

Emma jumped to her feet and helped the red head steady herself once more. Sophie started to stumble up the slope as Emma caught up to her and helped her up the rest of the way. They walked along the streets navigating back alleys to get Sophie home as quickly as possible. Sophie was still talking about the graffiti and other things which made no sense. Helping Sophie opened Emma's eyes and gave her a sense of clarity. _'I never realised how quickly Sophie got like this. It's sad to see my friend acting this way. I'm glad Jenny was given help even though she didn't want it. I can now see this from a whole new perspective. I wish I would have listened to Jenny earlier. I'm glad she is helping Sophie now, she really needs it. I will support her no matter what and help Sophie. My mind is now set on this.' _

Emma pushed open the front gate leading up to Sophie's house. It was almost noon. The normal twenty minute walk it took to get to the redheads house ended up taking almost two hours as Sophie kept on needing to rest. The blonde knocked on the front door three times while supporting her; waiting for someone to answer the door.

An older man with greying hair opened the door; the blonde recognised him, it was Sophie's uncle; he looked at Emma; then at Sophie as a sense of relief and worry washed over his face.

"Emma, thank you for bringing Sophie home, when my sister; her mother rang me last night and told me she hadn't been home in three days I caught the earliest plane home I could from my meetings in Austria," the older man said taking Sophie from Emma.

Emma happily handed Sophie over as she closed the door to the Klein house and started to walk home. She kicked an empty coca cola bottle along the footpath until she came across a bin next to the bus stop where she disposed of it. The rest of her walk home was rather uneventful, she thought of Jenny; wondering if she was awake yet and how she was going to tell her about Sophie.

The cool breeze was now getting stronger as Emma pulled her jacket tighter around herself. The sky was blue with no sign of rain in sight; something the blonde was thankful for. She fumbled around in her bag finding her keys to open the front door. She entered the living room. It was 1:35pm; she headed up the stairs to see if Jenny was awake. She heard no sound as she ascended the stairs with ease. The door to her bedroom was slightly ajar as she entered the room as quietly as she could.

Jenny's still form was lying in the middle of the bed still sleeping; the pillow from under her right arm was on the floor now as she lay on her back. The only movement in the room was her chest rising and falling as she breathed softly. The sunlight peaking into the room from the closed curtains highlighted Jenny's face and reflected off her hair creating an angelic look around her. Emma sat at the end of the bed just watching Jenny. She looked beautiful and Emma's heart swelled with love and pride as she watched her girlfriend adoringly.

The clock struck 2:00pm and the brunette was still asleep. Emma moved off the end of the bed and sat next to Jenny, moving the hair from her face softly cause her girlfriend to stir and finally wake up.

"Good afternoon beautiful," Emma said smiling softly at Jenny.

"Morning," Jenny groaned "What's the time?"

"It's 2:00 pm; you have had a good sleep."

Jenny cuddled into Emma as they both lay contently on the bed. "How has your day been Emma?" Jenny asked closing her eyes and breathing in the smell of the blonde.

Emma turned her head slightly so she could see Jenny better "Well my day has been eventful for the most part. Believe it or not but Sophie rang your phone around 9:00am in need of help so I went and helped her."

"Now did you? I want to hear all about this," Jenny said getting comfortable.

As Emma told Jenny about her adventures with Sophie she answered all the questions the brunette asked as well as informing her about some of the things Sophie had said. They went from talking about Sophie to how Emma came to the realisation that Sophie was really in need of help to ordering afternoon Chinese food for lunch as they laughed together trying to make different creations with some noodles.

The night had set in as the moon shone brightly in the sky as the stars glittered casting a peaceful glow on the Earth below. Emma decided that a nice relaxing bubble bath with Jenny was in order after a long day. She ran the hot water with bubble mix and waited for it to fill.

As the blonde and brunette got undressed Emma lowered herself slowly into the bath as Jenny joined her, sitting between her legs as she rested her back against her girlfriend's chest; hanging her right arm over the side so her cast wouldn't get wet. They stayed like that enjoying the sensations of pure skin to skin contact; nothing more, nothing less.

Jenny drew pictures in the bubbles with her left index finger; some of love hearts, stars, flowers and little sayings reading 'J + E' inside the hearts. Emma was content just letting Jenny do what she wanted as she softly hummed the tune to love fool; relaxing in the bath as she ran her fingers softly over her girlfriends back.

As the water in the bath got cold, Emma helped Jenny out of the tub as she wrapped a warm fluffy towel around her as she leaned into her; kissing her sensually on the lips only breaking apart to whisper "I love you," as they both looked into each other's eyes seeing only love, trust, compassion, pride and most of all acceptance in each other.

The End.


End file.
